Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) Short Interest Update

Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) saw a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,970,000 shares, a growth of 31.9% from the January 31st total of 3,010,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,650,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days. Approximately 2.8% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Steel Dynamics Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:STLD opened at $127.72 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.08. Steel Dynamics has a 1 year low of $104.60 and a 1 year high of $155.56. The company has a market cap of $19.44 billion, a PE ratio of 13.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $125.87 and its 200 day moving average is $127.61.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.33). Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 17.32%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.61 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Steel Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 20.41%.

Steel Dynamics declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, February 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the basic materials company to purchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $125.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 price objective (up from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp raised Steel Dynamics from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $146.22.

Insider Transactions at Steel Dynamics

In other news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.67, for a total transaction of $3,184,810.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 122,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,448,593.80. This represents a 16.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 1,051.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,330 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,176,000 after purchasing an additional 8,520 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Steel Dynamics by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,191 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,285,000 after buying an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 11.4% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,609 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $203,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 3.9% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 6,650 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $838,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 46.9% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 256,597 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,009,000 after acquiring an additional 81,933 shares during the period. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Steel Dynamics

Steel Dynamics, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a steel producer and metal recycler in the United States. The Steel Operations segment offers hot rolled, cold rolled, and coated steel products; parallel flange beams and channel sections, flat bars, large unequal leg angles, and reinforcing steel bars, as well as standard strength carbon, intermediate alloy hardness, and premium grade rail products; engineered special-bar-quality products, merchant-bar-quality products, and other engineered round steel bars; channels, angles, flats, merchant rounds, and reinforcing steel bars; and specialty shapes and light structural steel products.